Method and machine for separating materials



Nov. 5, 1940. J. R. PELLAM "2,220,540

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR SEPARATING MATERIALS Filed July 21, 19s9- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 5, 1940. J. R. PELLAM METHOD AND MACHINE FOR SEPARATING MATERIALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 21-, 1959 INVENTOR 5Zcn/Z. Z%ZZaa %zZsATToRNEY Patented Nov. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES METHOD AND MACHINE FOR SEPARATING MATERIALS John R, Pellam, Newark, N. Y.

Application July 21, 1939, Serial No. 285,743

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and machine for separating materials, with reference more particularly to the separation of splits and skins from peas, or other fiat-sided or irregular and relatively light particles from rounded or uniform and relatively heavy particles of a mass of material, and has for its object to afford a procedure and mechanism that will emciently and rapidly separate splits and skins from peas, either i in a raw or parboiled state, prior to their being packed in cans, or otherwise.

It is essential in a machine for operation on peas that the splits and skins be substantially all removed without any material loss in the volume of whole peas, and it has been impossible to accomplish this successfully heretofore with any machines available for the purpose, especially when operating on small peas that have been previously parboiled and are somewhat soft and therefore difiicult to handle.

More particularly the invention is designed to provide an automatic machine to which the peas or other material can be fed and in which they move across a concave material supporting sur- 23 face of a rotatable cylinder, along the bottom of which the peas or other material travel endwise of the axis about which said concave surface turns, while the splits and skins or other irregular particles adhere to the rotating concave sure as face and are removed by being carried upwardly upon said curved surface and discharged into a suitable trough or chute located at the top of the cylinder.

A further object of the invention is to afford a continuously operating automatic mechanism including a smooth concave material supporting surface, and maintaining said surface covered with a thin film of water, causing the surface as it travels upwardly to carry the irregular or flat- .m sided and relatively light particles such as splits and skins to the top of the cylinder, while the uniform and relatively heavier peas or particles slide back to the bottom of the cylinder and are carried endwise therethrough to the discharge outlet.

To these and other ends, the invention embraces the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the following description when read in conjunction with the ac companying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification,

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of one practical embodiment of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention, and designed for operating on peas;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional View on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the discharge outlet of the cylinder in end elevation;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional View on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The invention is not confined in its application or structure to the particular use or arrangement herein shown, the illustrated embodiment being intended merely as exemplary of its various uses and forms.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views, I designates a cylinder provided with annular supporting flanges 2, that rest upon drive rollers 3 arranged on opposite sides, and against the flanges 4 carried by said rollers. The rollers 3 are mounted on spindles 5 which also carry sprocket wheels 6 connected by a sprocket chain 1, one of said spindles having mounted thereon a pulley 8 to which power is supplied for turning the spindles 5 and likewise the cylinder I.

In the construction shown, the spindles 5 are mounted in bearings in a frame designated generally at 9, the spindles 5 and likewise the cylinder I being mounted higher at one end than at the other to incline the cylinder l and afford thereby a convenient way of feeding material through the cylinder along the bottom thereof as the latter is rotated. Such inclined arrangement of the cylinder is not essential to the construction, since the cylinder may be otherwise arranged or constructed in order to effect movement of a mass of material along its bottom from one end to the other during its rotation.

Successful results have been obtained with a 4 cylinder having an interior diameter of about two feet rotating at 15 R. P. M., the cylinder being five feet in length and four inches higher at its inlet end than at its outlet end to effect feeding of the material along its bottom, although these dimensions and the speed of rotation may be varied to suit any particular requirements, or as otherwise preferred.

The cylinder may be constructed of metal, or of other suitable material, to afford a smooth concave supporting surface on the inside, which when covered with a thin film of water and wet to a proper degree, will hold the flat surfaces of any irregular and relatively light weight particles, such as splits and skins of peas, carrying them upwardly as the cylinder rotates, while the uniform or round and relatively heavier particles such as whole peas slide or roll back to the bottom of the cylinder after they have moved upwardly for a slight distance, and in this fashion the whole peas or rounded or uniform particles travel endwise of the cylinder along its bottom by a succession of movements while the irregular or fiat-sided and relatively lighter weight particles adhere to the wet surface and are carried upwardly thereby to the top of the cylinder where they are removed.

The water necessary for maintaining a film of liquid on the supporting surface may be supplied to the cylinder in any suitable way, and in the construction shown there is provided a spray pipe ll controlled by a valve I21 and to which water may be fed from a supply pipe l3. The spray pipe H is located at the top of the cylinder eX- tending endwise thereof, and has a series of openings arranged to direct a spray of water against the surface of the cylinder, the pressure of the water being preferably such that it just strikes the surface of the cylinder, although the amount of water fed to the pipe may be varied by opening or closing the valve IZ-more or less, so that the film of water on the surface of the cylinder will be such as to hold the splits and skins in the manner described. It has been found in practice that successful results are had if the water at the bottom of the cylinder is of a thickness less than the diameter of an average pea,

The surplus water is removed, along with the splits and skins or other irregular particles, by a scraper located at the top of the cylinder and preferably consisting of a rubber or other flexible element l4 extending endwise of the cylinder and held yieldingly against the inner surface thereof. To accomplish this, the rubber scraper I4 is preferably mounted on a pair of pivoted arms l6, each of which carries a counterweight H, the arms l5 and counterweights l1 acting to hold the rubber scraper or wiper l4 yieldingly against the surface of the cylinder and thereby to remove the splits and skins that have been carried upwardly and also the surplus water, leaving only a thin film of water on the surface of the cylinder as it travels downwardly past the scraper M.

The splits and skins which are removed at the top of the cylinder, along with the surplus water, fall into a trough or chute [8 that is located beneath the scraper l4 and spray pipe H, and extends endwise of the cylinder, the outlet end of the chute l8 being connected with a conductor or pipe i 9 that carries the separated material and water to a suitable receptacle 2!], while the peas discharging from the outlet end of the cylinder pass through a discharge chute 2| into a suitable receptacle 22.

The material may be fed to the cylinder in any suitable manner, and where the device is used in connection with peas, the latter may be fed through a conventional type of fiume 23 and over a grill 24 through which the water is discharged while the peas pass down over the grill 24 into the upper end of the cylinder. Where the peas are fed into the cylinder by a current of water through a fiume, it has been found that sufiicient water adheres to the mass of peas to maintain the interior surface of the cylinder sufiiciently wet without having to utilize the spray at the top of the cylinder, and where peas are fed into the cylinder from a hopper in a dry state, the water is furnished from the spray pipe I l at the top of the cylinder. This is discretionary with the operator, and either or both sources of Water supply may be used depending upon the material that is being operated upon and the particular state of wetness that is required on the material supporting surface.

In the operation of the device, the peas are fed I in from the flume -23 over the grill 24 into the upper end of the cylinder I, and as the cylinder rotates in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3, the splits and skins or other irregular or flat-sided and relatively lighter particles are carried upwardly by the concave wet surface of the cylinder, adhering thereto as indicated at (1 in Fig. 3, while the, round and uniform peas of full size roll or slide back to the bottom of the cylinder, as indicated at y, and move in stages ceptacle 20, and the surface of the cylinder after passing the scraper I 4 is ready to encounter a fresh mass of peas at the bottom of the cylinder and to repeat the operation.

While the invention has been described with reference to the particular construction shown, it is not confined to the details herein disclosed, and this application is intended to cover any changes or modifications coming within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of the following claims.

I claim: I

1. The method of separating particles such as splits and skins from a mass of material such as peas which consists in rotating a cylinder having a smooth concave material supporting surface, maintaining a thin film of water on said smooth supporting surf-ace, feeding a mass of material such as peas through said cylinder and along the bottom thereof across said smooth supporting surface in a direction endwise of its axis of rotation, and removing said particles such as splits and skins at the top of the cylinder.

2. A food separating machine comprising a rotatable cylinder operating to feed a mass of material such as peas along the bottom thereof, said cylinder having a smooth concave supporting surface across which said material travels, means acting to supply water to the cylinder to maintain a thin wet film over said supporting surface, and means acting to remove food particles such as splits and skins of peas at the top of the cylinder. I

JOHN R. PEILAM. 

